Today we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, an environmental “teach-in” first promoted by Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970. The environment of Nelson’s day was a little different than the one we now possess, not only in terms of an extra four decades of pollution, but in the attitudes and information the general public had about conservation. Whereas that public was first starting to consider conservation in their everyday lives, spurred by the first images of Earth from space, our current understanding of the seriousness of the problems we face threatens information overload. For some, especially those who think deeply about the environment for a living, Earth Day has transformed from a clarion call to change our lives into a cynical opportunity for greenwashing. We’ll be updating this overloaded Buzz throughout the day, so keep checking back in.